Receiver for liquid refrigerant



Feb. H2, 1957 A. N. JOHANNESEN W Q RECEIVER FOR LIQUID EERIG RANT FiledJune 16, 1955 f UE'NE Y States 1 nncntvnn non mourn RnrnioEnANrApplication June 16, 1955, Serial No. 516,955

3 Ciaims. (Cl. 62-4) The invention described herein, if patented, may bemanufactured and used by or for the Government for governmentalpurposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to receivers for liquid refrigerants used inrefrigeration equipment. Such receivers are usually of cylindrical formand provided with an inlet at or near the top of the container and adischarge tube opening into the container at a point adjacent the bottomof the container. These structures are somewhat defective for at leasttwo reasons. Firstly, a relatively large volume of condensed refrigerantis required to bring the revel of the refrigerant up to the outlet pipewhen the receiver is tilted to an appreciable extent. And secondly, theypresent the danger of hydraulic rupture in the refrigeration system whenthe refrigerant has been pumped down for the purpose of shipping toanother location or for storage, especially if extra refrigerant hasbeen added, as is sometimes necessary, due to the fact that no space forexpansion is provided as when the volume or" liquid is increased due toincrease in temperature.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a receiver ofa novel shape such that the level of even a small amount of refrigerantwill be in operative relation to the discharge tube despite theapplication of a rather substantial tilt to the receiver.

A further object of the invention consists in so shaping the receiverand so positioning the inlet pipe with respect thereto that a sufficientreserve space for expansion of the refrigerant is provided even throughthe volume of liquid refrigerant is exceptionaily large, as when it ispumped down for shipping or storage purposes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description when talcen in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which,

Figure l is a plan view of the improved receiver for iiquidrefrigerants;

Figure 2 is a front elevational View thereof; and

Figures 3, 4 and are vertical sectional views taken on lines 33, 4-4 and5-5 respectively, of Figure 2.

The receiver which consists of a container provided with inlet andoutlet openings is indicated generally by the numeral it. The container,per se, in the present illustration is somewhat elongated and ofV-shaped form, being indicated by the numeral 2, with the vertex at 3.Mounted at this angular portion of the container is an inlet pipe icommunicating with the interior of the container through the lateralopening 5' and threaded at its opposite ends as indicated at 6 forconnection with the necessary piping.

As indicated in the present illustration, the body of the receiver ismade up of four sections, the angularly arranged tubes 7-7 which arewelded together as indicated by the numeral 8, and the end caps 9 whichare welded to the outer ends of the tubes '7 as indicated by the numerallti. These caps 9 are provided with threaded openings 11 for thereception of fusible plugs which serve to permit the discharge of therefrigerant in the event of excessive heat as in the presence ofuncontrolled fire. The tubular sections '7 are provided with threadedopenings 12 which serve as connections for gages. A drain 13 is providedat the extreme low point of the receiver, that is, at the lower joint ofthe two tubes i-7 which combine to form the V-shaped container. Mountedwithin the receiver adjacent the vertex thereof is a pair of bafiles 14provided with notches 15, which in conjunction with the inner wall ofthe receiver provide passages for the liquid refrigerant, as it may berocked back and forth during tilting movements of the receiver when inuse. As indicated, these baflie plates are positioned to the right andleft of the vertex of the receiver, as shown in Figure 2.

Also mounted within the receiver is a quill tube liquid outlet indicatedby the numeral 16 and having its upper end connected to outlet 17 whichis adapted to be connected to the high pressure side of therefrigerating system. The lower end 18 of the tube 16 is situated at thelowest point in the container, namely the bottom of the vertex, and inorder that liquid refrigerant may enter this tube 16 one or more notches19 are provided in the side wall thereof at the extreme lower end.

in a liquid refrigerant receiver of the general arrangement shown in thedrawings the lower end of the outlet tube is ordinarily covered witheven the minutest amount of liquid refrigerant in the receiver, andobviously only a relatively small amount of refrigerant is necessary tomaintain the lower end of the tube 16 submerged evcn if the receivershould be tilted a substantial amount, as for instance, if therefrigerating apparatus is mounted in a vehicle or the like.Furthermore, by reason of the V-shaped form of the container with theinlet pipe positioned at the lowest portion of the upper wall, it willbe apparent that even when the receiver is charged to its utmostcapacity a gas space will be provided in each of the upper ends of thesections 7-9. Therefore, in the event that ambient temperatures becomeextremely high and create excessive pressures within the receiver thegas spaces in the upper ends of the tubes 7-9 will provide for anyincrease in volume and thus avoid the possibility of hydraulic ruptureof the receiver.

While one specific form of the invention has been shown and describedherein in detail, it is to be understood that the particular form shownis merely intended to be illustrative of the invention since reservespace for expansion of the refrigerant may be provided in containers ofother forms provided the angular position of the container and theposition of the inlet opening are also constructed and arranged as toprovide a gas space above the surface of the refrigerant when thecontainer is fully charged.

in accordance with the patent statutes 1 have described herein thepreferred for-m of the invention, but inasmuch as various changes may bemade in structural details it is intended that such changes be includedwithin the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A receiver for liquid refrigerant comprising a closed container ofsubstantially "t -shape in elevation, and an inlet tube connected to theupper wall of the container at its vertex.

2. A receiver for liquid refrigerant comprising a closed container ofsubstantially V-shape in elevation, an inlet tube connected to the upperwall of the container at its vertex, and an outlet tube communicatingwith the interior of the container adjacent the vertex of the lowerwall.

3. A receiver for liquid refrigerant comprising a closed container ofsubstantially V-shape in elevation, an inlet tube connected to the upperwall of the container at its vertex, and an arcuate outlet tube mountedwithin the container at the vertex thereof, the lower end of said outlettube being disposed adjacent the bottom Wall of the container, and theupper end of the outlet being secured in an opening in a side wall ofthe container about halfway of the height of said side wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSAkerrnan July 26, Schreyer July 5,

Alexander May 19,

FOREIGN PATENTS France Apr. 2,

